Food and drink sweeteners are a pervasive part of the human diet due to their pleasing taste. Sweeteners may be natural or artificial, caloric or non-caloric, and may take any form suitable for use in edible materials, including granular, powder, syrup, and liquid. Sweeteners may be derived from a variety of sources. Caloric sweeteners include common table sugars (sucrose), fructose, and palm sugar. Sugars add a pleasant taste to many foods but are high in calories, with one cup of table sugar exceeding 750 dietary calories, which may contribute to obesity and other health problems. Consequently, various classes of non-caloric or low caloric sweeteners, or sugar substitutes, have been developed to replace sugars in food and drinks.
Sweeteners that may be used in lieu of sugar may be derived from natural sources or may be artificially produced through synthesis and/or derivation methods. Non-caloric or low caloric sweeteners may benefit consumers by lowering the amount of calories that are consumed, making weight management easier. These sweeteners may replace conventional sugars in food and beverages to minimally impact blood sugar levels, which may be desirable to people with active lifestyles such as athletes, people with metabolic disorders such as diabetes mellitus, hypoglycemia, or people suffering from obesity.
Stevia glycosides extracted from the plant Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni may be used as a sugar substitute. However, stevia glycosides also have numerous disadvantages. One such challenge for those skilled in the art of food and beverage formulation is the difficulty with the stability of stevia glycosides in solution, tow aqueous solubility, and precipitation and co-precipitation with other components from solution over time. Precipitants may cause the formulation to be cloudy or form solids or crystals that float or collect at the bottom of the container. Precipitation may affect the potency of the formulation's sweetness, taste, and negatively impact the perception of the consumer of the formulation's quality.